"If you knew Sushi..."

Tama Sushi, their HQ and prime restaurant in the area famous for the largest wholesale fish market in the world, Tsukiji, invited three lucky DeepJapan senpai to try their 'Nigiri Sushi Experience', give feedback and ideas as well as share the experience with DeepJapan readers and our friends. (Sponsored content)

So early one recent Saturday all three of us arrived at the Tsukiji branch of this famous Sushi restaurant chain which recently celebrated their 90th anniversary, excited to be given the opportunity to stand behind the counter with a genuine Sushi chef with 35 years experience and a passion for teaching those interested, the art of making Sushi! (and it IS an Art!)

Tamasushi.co.jp – Tamasushi’s English Website
http://www.tamasushi.co.jp/english/

Now to paint the picture and be clear to those new to Sushi or who have only tried it outside of Japan without much thought to its origins and authentic varieties, nigiri sushi ('Nigiri-zushi') is the type of sushi with a slice of raw fish on top of a small elongated, compacted mound of rice (not too compacted, as we were to learn!).

Sushi isn't generally made at home in Japan, with the some-time exception of Maki-zushi (rolls of rice wrapped in nori/seaweed with seafood or other ingredients inside) for certain occasions and Temaki or 'hand roll' (similar but more conical and served in one piece, for one person) which is often the theme of a 'home party' here.

This is interesting to know, because even the average Japanese person has never experienced making Nigiri-zushi themselves - which makes this experience all that much more special for us - and for you if you try it - when we tell our Japanese friends, colleagues and acquaintances, and share the photos, stories and new found knowledge on our favourite social media channels!

For an introduction to what it was like, take a look at the walk through of the experience we had, written by fellow DeepJapan senpai Aron here: http://www.deepjapan.org/a/4200

Do you like Sushi or at least the idea of handling raw fish doesn't faze you? If you are a Tourist and you've already begun making your own itinerary from articles on the web listing "The Top 10 places to visit in Tokyo" (or top 50!), or you're an avid DeepJapan reader, and working your way through http://www.deepjapan.org/c/visit ... it's still most likely you haven't even considered learning to make Sushi, right in the middle of Tsukiji. At the risk of sounding like a cliché "Do yourself a favor" and have this experience. It will turn out to be one of the experiences you remember most often, the longest and share with the most people.

Incidentally if you're a local who’s already done most of the sightseeing you want to (5 times more than you want to for some places even; each time someone visits from outside Japan!) and especially if you enjoy Sushi here in Japan - the Tama Sushi Nigiri-zushi making experience is a fantastic and authentic Japanese experience that will enrich your enjoyment of the culture, your knowledge and enjoyment of Sushi!

Booking can be done in English at the link below, however note the warning in Aron's post - the Experience is currently delivered in Japanese only. While they are working to make the Experience more inviting to non-Japanese speakers, for now if you can find your own Japanese speaker who could attend with you or you are feeling adventurous, it isn't hard to copy along with the Chef and still enjoy the experience. If you need help finding English, Chinese, Korean or folks who speak Japanese and other languages, feel free to contact DeepJapan for help. It's likely to be an additional investment in your experience, but perhaps we can find a DeepJapan Senpai who could interpret for you.

Worth pointing out too, is that this is not a 'cooking class' feel; you're right there in the restaurant behind the counter - something special!

Book you own... Sushi making experience
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/jge/en/entry/post-000814.html